Bareback Rocker rider Steiner wins in Darby with a world record 95 points | Rodeo

Steiner turned 18 in December 2021 and now, just five months into his professional career, he won his first title at a stage of the Riggin’ Rally at Darby on Sunday. Steiner did it in world-record fashion with a 95-point run aboard C5 Rodeo’s famous bucking horse Virgil.

“I’m so blown away right now,” Steiner said. “It was one of the most special moments of my life. I have dreamed of having this horse for about four years now, since I started riding.”

It turns out that Steiner had a premonition of the world record a few weeks ago.

“The craziest thing is I texted one of my buddies about two weeks ago and said, ‘Brother, what if I set the world record on Virgil?'” laughed the cowboy from Weatherford, Texas, adding that his father, 2002 PRCA world steer wrestling champion Sid, dreamed he was winning the event on the famous gray horse.

The Riggin’ Rally offers a unique format. The 30 competitors, made up of the top 24 in the PRCA World Rankings alongside six riders who qualified from a qualifier held the day before the Riggin Rally, were split into three sections. The top three in each section advance to the nine-man final.

On Sunday evening, competitors were able to pull their cattle for the long run. With the fourth pick in his section, Steiner chose Brookman Rodeo’s Boozy Beaver. Three-time PRCA world champion Tim O’Connell set the bar at 88 points for the section victory, while Steiner finished tied for second with Canadian cowboy Ty Fast Taypotat, who qualified to take part in Saturday’s qualifying. Matching rides with 83 points reached the sudden death finale.

Then came the Finals, a sudden-death competition known for producing marquee matchups and high scores.

“We were sitting behind the falls and Will O’Connell was shouting who was against which horse and he said, ‘Rocker Steiner, Virgil,'” Steiner recalled. “Right there my stomach dropped, I was scared. I was so ready. I knew something big was going to happen, and it did.”

As he made final preparations for his race, Steiner admitted to a war between his ears.

“Honestly, I put my glove on and took a deep breath and I was like, ‘Why am I doing this to myself?'” he said with another laugh.

When the gates blew open, Steiner matched the moves with the two-time PRCA horse and two-time Canadian champion and hit the floor in a big celebration.

“It was everything I dreamed of,” he said. “I kept telling myself to put the brakes on because he was going to want me in front.

“I couldn’t believe I whistled, and I knew I was going to whistle,” he joked.

Steiner’s 95-point run broke a six-run 94-point stalemate that once held the world record, originally set in 2002.

“I couldn’t write it any better than that,” Steiner said. Her father and grandfather were on hand to share the moment. “He’s been my favorite horse for four years now. It’s always been my dream to get on that horse and set a world record on him and I did that today.”

Steiner won $10,000 for the victory. He arrived at Montana 15th in the world rankings and will move up the ranks as he aims to make his Wrangler National Finals Rodeo debut in 2022.

But Steiner wasn’t thinking about the money or the standings on Sunday night.

“Setting the world record at 18 takes forever,” he said. “No one will remember how much money I made. No one will remember that I set the world record at 18 on one of the greatest bucking horses of all time on this Earth.

“That’s what mattered to me. It wasn’t about the money or the fans. It was about Virgil and me.”

As for the record, Steiner says he doesn’t expect it to take another 20 years to break.

“My record is going to be broken but it will be by me,” he said.